Maciej Dakowicz (born 20 November 1976) is a Polish
street photographer
Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Although there is a difference between street and ca ...
,
photojournalist and gallerist. He is from
Białystok in North East Poland.
Dakowicz is best known for his series of photographs of Cardiff night-life titled ''Cardiff after Dark''.
He and others set up and ran
Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff and he was a member of the
In-Public street photography collective.
Life and work
Dakowicz studied
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
in Poland (2000). He lived in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, between 2004 and 2012, where he worked and studied for his PhD at the
University of Glamorgan
, image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png
, image_size = 220px
, caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms
, motto = Success Through Endeavour
, established =
, closed =
, administrative_staff =
, chancellor = John Morris ...
(now the
University of South Wales
The University of South Wales ( cy, Prifysgol De Cymru) is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wa ...
) (2010) where he also worked.
He left work at the university in 2009 and completed his PhD in 2010.
In 2010 he set up and ran
Third Floor Gallery along with Joni Karanka and Bartosz Nowicki.
He left Cardiff for
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and since 2013 has been based in Mumbai, photographing in Tunisia, Yemen, India and Bangladesh.
Dakowicz is best known for his series of photographs of Cardiff night-life titled ''Cardiff after Dark'',
also the name of his later book. Photographed over four years,
photographs from the series have featured in magazines and been exhibited in galleries. Individual images from the series have also been used out of context and with misleading captions by the British tabloid media to support a single narrative about alcoholic excess. This tabloid practice has been criticised; for example,
Jonathan Jones wrote in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that "Humour is the most obvious thing about his pictures, and their attraction lies in the way they balance grotesque abandon with poised, coolly beautiful lighting."
Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and arranger who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and ...
said in ''The Guardian'' that "it is not all outrageousness and vulgarity: Dakowicz also catches the sense of camaraderie and celebration in Cardiff on a Saturday night. He has an outsider's eye for telling detail, a way of showing us, in often brilliantly dramatic fashion and with a degree of gleeful humour, what is right under our noses."
In March 2013 Dakowicz became a member of the In-Public street photography collective.
His book ''Sonepur Mela'' (2021) contains photographs taken at
Sonepur Cattle Fair
Sonepur Cattle Fair ( hi, सोनपुर पशु मेला) is held on Kartik Poornima (the full moon day) over the months of November and December in Sonepur, Bihar, on the confluence of river Ganges(Gandak). It is also known as Harih ...
in India between 2010 and 2017.
Publications
Books of work by Dakowicz
*''Sixteen Countries.''
**First edition. Self published, Blurb.
**Second edition, 2009. Self published, Blurb. Contains 114 photographs from between 2003 and 2008.
[The book is show]
here
at blurb.com where it states "There are many differences between this and the original edition. Around half of photos were changed, almost all portraits and landscapes/cityscapes are gone. Now the book contains mostly street, documentary and travel photos. All photos were toned again to ensure that all are well printed. The cover is different and the layout inside has been modified slightly. You could say it is a completely new book."
*''Cardiff after Dark.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2012. . Introduction by
Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and arranger who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and ...
.
[The publisher's page for the book i]
here
.
*''Sonepur Mela''. Self-published, 2021. . With an introduction by Gareth Fitzpatrick.
Books with contributions by Dakowicz
*''Flash Forward 2009.'' Edited by Simon Bainbridge. Toronto:
Magenta Foundation
The Magenta Foundation is a charitable art publishing house based in Toronto. It was established in 2004 by MaryAnn Camilleri to publish work from both domestic and international emerging artists through exhibitions and publications. In 2005 the fo ...
. .
*''
Street Photography Now.'' London:
Thames & Hudson, 2010. (hardback). London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. (paperback). Edited by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren.
[The book is describe]
here
at tumblr.com.
*''Hijacked III: Australia / United Kingdom.'' Cottesloe, W.A.: Big City Press; Heidelberg:
Kenrer, 2012. . Exhibition catalogue.
*''Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs.'' By Henry Carroll. London:
Laurence King, 2014. .
*''The World Atlas of Street Photography.'' New Haven and London:
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
: 2014, . Edited by Jackie Higgins. With a foreword by
Max Kozloff.
*''100 Great Street Photographs.'' Munich, London, New York:
Prestel
Prestel (abbrev. from press telephone), the brand name for the UK Post Office Telecommunications's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. It achieved a maxim ...
, 2017. By
David Gibson. . Contains a commentary on and a photograph by Dakowicz.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
*2011: ''Cardiff by Night''. Galeria im. Sleńdzińskich, Białystok, Poland.
*2011: ''BigLittleCity'', Old Library, Cardiff.
* 2012: ''China Impressions'', Paris Van Java shopping mall, Bandung, Indonesia.
* 2012: ''Cardiff after Dark'',
Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff.
Exhibitions with others or during festivals
*''Street Photography Now,''
Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, October–November 2010, and toured to Contributed Studio for the Arts, Berlin, December 2010 – January 2011; Museum of Printing,
Historical Museum of Warsaw
Museum of Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Warszawy) (in 1948–2014 ''Historical Museum of Warsaw'', pl, Muzeum Historyczne m.st. Warszawy) is a museum in the Old Town Market Place in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1936.
History of the museum
The ...
, Warsaw, November 2011 – January 2012. Photographs from the book ''Street Photography Now'' (2011).
*''Street Photography Now,'' shop windows throughout the
Canal Saint-Martin
The Canal Saint-Martin is a 4.6 km (2.86 mi) long canal in Paris, connecting the Canal de l'Ourcq to the river Seine. Over nearly half its length (), between the Rue du Faubourg du Temple and the Place de la Bastille, it was covered, in the ...
area, part of Mois de la Photo-OFF, Paris, November 2010; Gallery Lichtblick, Cologne, 2010; Uno Art Space, Stuttgart, April–June 2011.
*2011: ''Cardiff after Dark'' screened at
Visa pour l'image 2011, Perpignan, France.
*2011: ''Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera''.
Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool.
* 2013: ''Divine Bodies'',
Laing Art Gallery
The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...
, Newcastle.
* 2013: ''Cardiff After Dark'',
White Cloth Gallery, Leeds, UK. With
Donald Weber
Donald Weber is a literary critic and a specialist in Jewish American literature and film studies. He is the Lucia, Ruth, and Elizabeth MacGregor Professor of English and Chair of the English department at Mount Holyoke College.
Background
Weber ...
.
*2015: ''The Sharp Eye. In-Public in Mexico,'' Foto Mexico, Cine Tonalá, Mexico City, Mexico, October–November 2015. Slideshow of photographs.
Awards
*2009: 170 Lat Fotografii = 170 Years of Photography, Plfoto.com, OnePhoto.net and Obiektywni.pl, Poland, "People" Category Winner.
*2009: VIVA! Photo Awards 2009, Poland, The Grand Prix Award.
*2009: Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographer 2009.
*2009: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2009, UK, 3rd place, Highly Commended and Commended in "This is Britain" Category.
*2010: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010, UK, 2nd place in the "Documentary" category.
*2010: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010, UK, 3rd place in the "Adrenaline" category.
*2010: BZ WBK Press Photo 2010, Poland, 3rd place in the "Civilisation" category.
*2010: Wielki Konkurs National Geographic 2010, Poland, Honourable Mention in the "Reportage" category.
*2011: BZ WBK Press Photo 2011, Poland, 2nd place in the "Society" category.
*2011: BZ WBK Press Photo 2011, Poland, 3rd place in the "Nature" category.
*2016: First prize, News category, BZ WBK Press Foto, Poland. For photographs of the aftermath of an earthquake in Nepal, 2015.
*2018: First Place, Single Image category,
LensCulture
''LensCulture'' is a photography network and online magazine about contemporary photography in art, media, politics, commerce and popular cultures worldwide. It is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
''LensCulture'' sponsors international photograph ...
Street Photography Awards, for "Beach Scene, Chaung Tha, Myanmar"
Notes
References
External links
*
Maciej Dakowicz at In-Publicstreet photography collective
Flickr Blog - 5 Questions for Maciej Dakowicz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dakowicz, Maciej
Polish photographers
Street photographers
Polish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Living people
1976 births
Alumni of the University of South Wales
Alumni of the University of Glamorgan
People from Białystok